Governments with free trade policies or agreements do not necessarily relinquish all controls on imports and exports or eliminate all protectionist measures. In modern international trade, few free trade agreements (FTAs) lead to full free trade. According to EFTA, the defining feature of alternative professional organisations is partnership on an equal footing and respect between producers and importers in the developing region, shops, labelling organisations and consumers. Alternative trade “humanizes” the business process – making the chain between producer and consumer as short as possible, so that consumers become aware of the culture, identity and conditions in which producers live. All stakeholders are committed to the principle of alternative trade, the need to represent interests in their working relationships, and the importance of awareness-raising and advocacy work. [80] Examples of such organizations include Ten Thousand Villages, Greenheart Shop, Equal Exchange and SERRV International in the United States and Equal Exchange Trading, Traidcraft, Oxfam Trading, Twin Trading and Alter Eco in Europe, and Siem Fair Trade Fashion in Australia. The marketing of fair trade cocoa to European consumers often portrays cocoa farmers as dependent on Western purchases for their livelihoods and well-being. Showing African cocoa farmers in this way is problematic because it is reminiscent of the imperialist view that Africans cannot live happily without the help of Westerners. It represents the balance of power in favour of consumers and not producers.
[111] The largest sources of fair trade coffee are Uganda and Tanzania, followed by Latin American countries such as Guatemala and Costa Rica. [92] In 1999, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom were among the largest importers of fair trade coffee. There is a north-south gap between consumers and fair trade producers. North American countries are not yet among the largest importers of fair trade coffee. [92] African exports come from countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. These exports are estimated at $24 million. [86] Between 2004 and 2006, Africa rapidly increased its number of FLO-certified producer groups from 78 to 171, nearly half of which are based in Kenya. Tanzania and South Africa are following closely. [86] The FLO products for which Africa is known are tea, cocoa, flowers and wine. [86] In Africa, there are cooperatives and smallholder plantations that produce fair trade certified tea.
[86] Cocoa-producing countries in West Africa often form cooperatives that produce fair trade cocoa, such as Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana. [87] West African countries that do not have strong fair trade industries are subject to a deterioration in cocoa quality as they compete with other countries for profit. These countries include Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d`Ivoire. [88] The benefits of free trade were described in On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, published in 1817 by the economist David Ricardo. A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more countries aimed at removing barriers to imports and exports between them. Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders without customs duties, quotas, subsidies or government bans hindering their trade. The removal of trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways to promote trade. Barriers to concern include tariffs (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that selectively restrict quantities.
From time to time, other issues such as bureaucracy and exchange rate policy were also discussed. The first attempts to commercialize fair trade products in northern markets were initiated in the 1940s and 1950s by religious groups and various politically oriented non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Ten Thousand Villages, an NGO within the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and SERRV International were founded in 1946 and 1946 respectively. In 1949, the first to develop fair supply chains in developing countries. [60] The products, almost exclusively handicrafts, from jute items to cross-engraving work, were mainly sold in churches or fairs. The goods themselves often had no other function than to indicate that a gift had been made. [61] Fair trade products are goods that have been traded from their place of cultivation or manufacture to purchase and that have been certified by a fair trade certification body such as Fair Trade USA or the World Fair Trade Organization. These organizations are usually overseen by Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International sets international fair trade standards and supports fair trade producers and cooperatives. [91] Sixty percent of the fair trade market revolves around foods such as coffee, tea, cocoa, honey and bananas. [92] Non-food products include handicrafts, textiles and flowers. It was suggested by Shima Baradaran of Brigham Young University that fair trade techniques could be productively applied to products that could involve child labor.
[93] Although fair trade represents only 0.01% of the food and beverage industry in the United States, it is growing rapidly and could become an important part of the domestic food and beverage industry. [94] 1. . . .